Research elucidating the effects of sleep and circadian rhythm on cognitive performance is advancing, yet many important questions remain. Using flanker-task performance scores from a large internet sample (N = 48,881) with repeated measures of cognitive performance and linked prior-night self-reported sleep duration, we analysed the relationship between sleep duration, time of day of task performance, and chronotype synchrony with performance in participants aged 15-80 years. Results indicate a performance peak at 7 hr habitual sleep duration, and point to a variable effect of deviation from habitual sleep duration depending on users' habitual sleep duration and age.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFT2-weighted (T2W) imaging is the most important sequence for detection of acute traumatic spinal cord pathology in clinical practice. Intramedullary hemorrhage on T2W imaging is associated with some component of irreversible injury and arguably the most robust MR imaging predictor of injury severity. The MR imaging appearance of the injured spinal cord in the early stages of injury is highly dynamic, and the time delay from injury to imaging must be considered in image interpretation.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe detection of temporal regularity allows organisms to predict the occurrence of future events. When events occur in an irregular manner, uncertainty is increased, and negative outcomes can ensue (e.g.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBehav Neurosci
February 2008
Peripheral capsaicin treatment induces molecular changes that sensitize the responses of nociceptive neurons in the spinal dorsal horn. The current studies demonstrate that capsaicin also undermines the adaptive plasticity of the spinal cord, rendering the system incapable of learning a simple instrumental task. In these studies, male rats are transected at the second thoracic vertebra and are tested 24 to 48 hours later.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFNociceptive stimulation, at an intensity that elicits pain-related behavior, attenuates recovery of locomotor and bladder functions, and increases tissue loss after a contusion injury. These data imply that nociceptive input (e.g.
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